Linda Marshall-Smith (Lt) and Maria Elena Garcia Villalobos (Rt)
Ladies please introduce yourselves
I’m Linda Marshall-Smith. I’m Maria Elena Garcia Villalobos.
I’m here with the Census and believe it or not the Census is here at NAMM. Now, you guys have something for anyone that signs up or drops a card, your raffling off something special…
Linda: A D’Angelico Premier Mini DC Guitar. It’s brand new from D’Angelico. They donated it to our booth and we are raffling it off on Sunday at noon.
Why is the Census here at NAMM?
Linda: We’re here to spread awareness about the upcoming 20202 Census. The fact that there are three things to know about the census: It’s easy, it’s safe, and it’s important.
It’s easy because for the first time you can respond online, by mail on the paper form, by phone, or with the Census Taker when they come to your door.
It’s safe because everything people share with us is protected by law. We do not reveal anyone’s information; privacy and confidentiality are protected by law. We don’t share it with anyone else.
It’s Important because it determines what our representation is going to be. Our representation in congress is dependent upon population count. It’s important because that’s how they put the boundaries for voting districts, where the voting districts are going to be for the next ten years within each state. It’s also important because over 675 billion dollars annually get disbursed to states and local communities. Services like hospitals and funding for music programs are all based on population count, so it’s very important that everyone is counted and that you count everyone in your household.
This Beauty was Raffled Off Sunday Afternoon.
Are you employees of the Census or contractors?
Linda: Yes we are Federal Government Employees. We work for the Department of Commerce the US Census Bureau.
The Feds Are here at NAMM! You heard it here first. (Laughter) You mentioned you are trying to sign up Census Takers?
Linda: Yes we are. Nationwide we’re looking for Census Takers to go out there and go knock on doors for people who don’t respond either online or by mail. We need to count every household in America. It’s also in the Constitution that we count everyone, every ten years, living in America. We need to make sure we get the count so we’re hiring for census takers in your area. You can go to: 2020 CENSUS JOBS and apply right on line.
Linda reaches out and hands me something:
What are you giving me?
Linda: This is the timeline. People will get an invitation to respond starting March 12th. If you don’t respond right away you’ll get a reminder on a postcard and…
Does that say April 19th if you don’t respond they’ll just come to your home? (Laughter)
Linda: Yes that’s basically right. (Smiling) So if you don’t want to see smiling faces like us knocking on your door…
Linda Shows Off The D’Angelico Guitar Up For Raffle.
Who wouldn’t want to see smiling faces like you ladies, C’mon now? (Laughter)
Linda: It’s a part time job. It pays pretty well and you can go to the website and put your state in and your county it’ll tell you what the pay rate is. It’s temporary until the middle of summer.
Ok very cool. Anything else you’re doing here you want to talk about?
Linda: We want to thank NAMM for having us here. We want to thank D’Angelico for donating the Guitar. We want to thank Supro Amplifiers for loaning us an amp to use for demonstrating our guitar. We want to thank everyone at the Freeman Organization for all the help they gave us. They are the people who basically manage the show floor and booths. So thank you to all those folks. And thank you to you too.
So my new friends at the Census started trying to hand me Census branded merch including a pen, Chapstick, a privacy tab (goes over the camera on your monitor). Then Linda grabs the D’Angelico axe and begins strumming a sweet song for us and the passersby.
After talking with these ladies I’m convinced more than ever it’s important to be counted!
The Us Census is held every ten years and it’s here again!
For More Info:
United States Census 2020
BY: Thorne Schreiber / BackStage360